Friday, October 30, 2009

Boo! I'm Back, Hope I Didn't Scare You

Here's the pumpkin I carved last year which I still find quite impressive.

I've undeniably embraced the off-season with a staggering drop off in posts. I've been working 6-7 days a week on a screenplay and hope to have some good news to report on that end before the new golf season begins.

Despite the workload, I was able to get out and play in a friend's charity golf tournament last Friday. We played a 3-man scramble (we were down a man) and started off birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie-eagle. 8-under throught the first 7 holes. For a moment we felt like Troy Matteson.

We finished with a 58, which was left us in a tie for 1st. But then the guys in the pro shop did the screwy golf tourney tie-breaker by giving 1st place to the team with the lower back-nine score, and so we lost. I've been on the winning and losing end of this and it always baffles me. It's such a completely random way to decide the winner and only exists because they already bought the trophies and only ordered one that said "1st place" on it.

Anyone know the real reason this is the tie-breaker method of choice? The argument might be that it shows which team finished their round stronger, but of course this assumes every team started on the 1st tee, which doesn't usually happen in these big charity tourneys. Since they can't send people back to the course, I'm lobbying for a putting contest between the two teams on the putting green. Three hole agregate team score, like the Open Championship.

I've never seen an entire 9 holes used as a tiebreaker. The one I have seen used most was a countback starting at 18 and going back until one team wins a hole. Similar to Stick's - it's still pretty random.

On The Tee

BOB SMILEY is the author of the "razor-sharp" satiric novel DON'T MESS WITH TRAVIS from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press.
Smiley began his writing career as a research assistant to the late, great William F. Buckley, Jr. In 2008, he wrote the sports memoir FOLLOW THE ROAR, chronicling his journey around the globe as he followed Tiger Woods for every hole of an entire season.
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and 3 children where he writes for both TV and film. For more, go to BobSmiley.me